Study Reveals Huge Increase In Number Of Preventable Hospital Deaths

Back in 1999, a group of researchers with the Institute of Medicine published an estimate of the number of deaths caused by medical errors each year, pegging the figure at around 98,000. Since then, the media and other groups have latched onto the figure, seldom challenging its accuracy.

The new figures were discovered by John James, a NASA researcher who runs a patient advocacy organization known as Patient Safety America. James began work on the issue after his teenage son died from what James claims was negligent care from a hospital. James based his findings on four recent studies which explored the frequency of adverse medical events in hospitals. The studies found that adverse events occur in as many as 21 percent of all cases, with nearly 1.4 percent of such events proving fatal.

Taking this number and applying it to the millions of hospitalizations that occur every year led James to conclude that a minimum of 210,000 people die from preventable hospital errors each year. The number could be more than doubled due to a variety of factors that lead to the underreporting of such preventable deaths. The nonprofit research organization ProPublica reviewed James’ numbers and also had three experts in patient safety review the study and all of them concluded that James’ methods were credible and appeared to be accurate.

Though we may not know precisely how many innocent patients suffer from preventable medical errors each year, we do know that early estimates were likely dramatically underestimated. Patient safety experts say that it is clear that the media and public health officials need to stop citing the 98,000 figure and instead start grappling with the idea that many times more people are dying from preventable medical mistakes every year in American hospitals.

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